30 applicants for superintendent

T
he application deadline has passed, and the Lincoln County Board of Education now has 30 people to consider for the job of schools superintendent.
â€œThatâ€™s a tremendous amount of applications,â€ said Allison Schafer with the North Carolina School Board Association, which is helping the Board of Education in its superintendent search.
At Tuesday nightâ€™s Board of Education meeting, Schafer asked board members for input on what theyâ€™re looking for in a superintendent.
Ed Hatley, chairman of the board, started off the discussion by noting the surveys filled out by community members and Lincoln County Schools staff.
Both surveys listed supporting strong discipline, having people skills, providing a safe environment, advocating for resources and knowing how to get people to work together as top priorities.
â€œIf we can get a superintendent who had all those qualities and was equally strong in all of them, I think that would be a major task,â€ Hatley said.
Candy Burgin, a board member, said she thinks the ability to communicate is an especially important skill.
Bob Silver, a board member, said the future superintendent needs to understand the systemâ€™s difficult financial situation.
He also wanted him or her to think in â€œcreative ways that maybe weâ€™re not thinking aboutâ€ and have a diversity of experience.
Clayton Mullis, a board member, said he would like the future superintendent to have once worked as a teacher.
Hatley, Mullis and Silver all agreed that experience as a principal or a member of a school systemâ€™s central office was also essential.
â€œI think the managerial skills are important,â€ Silver said.
The ability to work with business and community leaders as well as legislators was also listed as an asset.
During the open discussion, board members Tommy Houser, Kelly Childers and George Dellinger chose not to speak.
â€œYouâ€™ve covered it,â€ Dellinger said when Hatley asked if he had any input.
Later in the meeting, Tommy Houser did ask Schafer a question.
â€œIs there any way you can tell us how many are out of state, in state, local?â€ he asked of the applicants.
Schafer said in general 50 percent of applicants are usually from out of state and the other 50 percent are from in state, but she did not address how the 30 applications in this case broke down.
The Board of Education will likely choose seven to 10 applicants to interview March 1 during a closed session board meeting.
â€œWe donâ€™t recommend whom to interview or anything,â€ Schafer said of the North Carolina School Board Association. â€œWe are here to facilitate.â€
by Sarah Grano